


Prohibited Degree

by primeideal



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Identity Reveal, It just kinda happened, Marriage of Convenience, This wasn't supposed to be sequel-bashing, of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23769667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal
Summary: Leia and Vader just wanted to stall their marriage. The answers they find solve one problem, and create another.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29
Collections: What Fen Do (Instead of Going Outside)





	Prohibited Degree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darlingargents](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingargents/gifts).



> Sequel to [this fic!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21749275)

"This is hardly necessary," said Governor Tarkin. "Lord Vader is...a diligent servant of the Empire in many ways, but his position is hardly a hereditary one."

Senator Bail Organa had written an amicus briefing on the legal considerations of marriage as regarded droid personhood, but Leia had never imagined having to cite it in such a context. "But he is classified as genetically human?"

"Cyborg," said Tarkin. "With a significant amount of artificial organs."

"And underlying human DNA."

"Yes."

"Of a...man." The Kafreni senator would no doubt have claimed that the intricacies of gender identity were more complex, but Leia was a long way from the Senate.

"I haven't checked," said Tarkin dryly.

"If he objects to the procedure, I certainly have no desire to compel him," said Leia. "But I would appreciate asking him if he is willing to voluntarily undergo testing. After all, the Empire has invested a great deal in these negotiations; it would be a shame if anything were to derail them that we could have prevented in advance."

This was, if not an outright falsehood, certainly more delicate legalese than most of Leia's short political career had demanded. But being engaged to Darth Vader was enough to make anyone quickly become an expert on Imperial loopholes.

More surprisingly, Vader had been just as willing to stall. It had been _his_ idea to postpone the ceremonies until the Emperor could personally attend, which was not possible until he'd finished a protracted campaign in the Outer Rim. And then, there was the matter of reinstalling some of Vader's deprecated prosthetics. Either Leia was herself a very unattractive partner by galactic standards, or he also recognized that, while peace may have depended on the precarious arrangement, that wasn't a reason to rush into anything.

She hoped it was the latter, but she didn't really care.

It took a few days for the genetic screening to process, which was no cause for alarm. Vader probably had a host of unpleasant congenital conditions, and even if they weren't the inheritable kind, they probably needed to re-test him to make sure he actually was human and Tarkin hadn't forced an incompetent underling to impersonate him. So Leia was not surprised when she was notified of a securely encrypted message for her to read in privacy.

_Consanguinity between Princess Leia Organa and Darth Vader: 50%._

_Probability of shared recessive alleles: extremely high. Reproduction proscribed._

_Possible genetic relations: father-daughter, brother-sister_

Leia read the message twice, three times, each possibility more disturbing than the last. But each of them meant a business trip to a Star Destroyer.

* * *

Vader had her at somewhat of an advantage in that, no matter how polished her body language, he was completely unreadable behind the mask. "This is most useful," he said. "No doubt both of our factions will consider this sufficient grounds to delay indefinitely while negotiations continue."

"Thank you, sir. I'll certainly try to keep the lines of communication open with my colleagues."

Nothing. He could be using the Force to manipulate planets' orbits or contacting the Emperor to update him on the inauspicious results, for all Leia knew.

Well, she wasn't going to let that stop her. She did not enjoy visiting her--what were they now? not betrothed--and did not want to make a repeat trip merely to have an awkward conversation. "I'm not sure how much you've been briefed on me, but I was born shortly before the--the Empire rose." She had almost said _the Republic fell_ , but no sense impressing parents who couldn't see her at the risk of antagonizing the officer. "From what I understand, you rose to prominence around the same time. Do you--consider it possible that we could be siblings?"

The more she'd considered it on the ride over, the more sense it made. Vader was known to be violent and impulsive with the Force, but he had proved to be just as reluctant as her when it came to marriage. What if he was merely a moody young man, not wanting to be tied down to a rebel aristocrat when he might have a long career ahead of him? From what little she understood of the Jedi, they had trained their Force-users from a young age. Perhaps the Sith were the same.

"That," said Vader, "is not possible."

"Oh. Well--all right. Could you be my father?"

His eyeless gaze fixed her for what felt unpleasantly long even by his standards, before he said, "I do not believe so."

"Do you think the test was a mistake, then?"

"Your Highness, what do you know about cloning technology?"

"Not much," Leia admitted. "I don't think it was very developed before the Clone Wars, and restricted afterward."

"True," said Vader. "What is relevant here is that Kaminoan cloning can be artificially manipulated so that a clone ages more quickly than its progenitor. To more quickly reach maturity."

"My maturation has been typical," said Leia. Well, physically it had been. Mentally, maybe she'd been rushed, but any princess of Alderaan would have had a similar experience even in peacetime.

"I do not doubt it. What do you know about your biological father?"

"Nothing," said Leia, "except that he couldn't raise me. Are you sure it couldn't be you?"

"I am--not certain, but it seems highly improbable. I find it more likely that I had a clone somewhere I was unaware of, and that individual contributed half your DNA."

"And he wasn't able to be my parent? Why?"

"Are you familiar with midi-chlorians?"

"No. Is that in the Scarif system?"

"Midi-chlorians are symbiotic beings that live within the cells of other organisms, particularly sentient life. In some traditions, they account for connection to the Force."

Leia tried to keep from laughing. The mystical energy field that Vader revelled in, conditioned by sub-mitochondrial entities? Well, it wasn't any weirder than hyperspace. "I'm not sure what that has to do with me."

"My midi-chlorian count is much higher than typical, even by the standards of a Force-sensitive. The former Jedi council was aware of this, and had access to my DNA. Conceivably, they could have attempted to genetically engineer a Force user who they could raise and control."

"The Jedi may have been foolish in many ways, but I doubt they would stoop to--breeding children for warfare."

"Do not tell me what the Jedi would or would not have done," said Vader, his mechanical voice even tighter than usual.

"Even if that were the case," said Leia, "how would I have wound up on Alderaan?"

"How should I know? Your parents were influential politicians in the declining years of the Republic, ask them."

Leia winced. Her father's incapacitation had been one of the many ensuing factors in the Alliance's desperation for peace, but Vader gave the sense that it hadn't been important enough to remember, rather than needling her for the sake of it. "It's moot anyway," she said, "because I can't touch the Force."

Vader remained calm as he said, almost offhandedly, "But you can."

Leia opened and closed her mouth several times before settling on "What?"

"I did not realize it at our previous meetings. Once I saw these results--I examined you more closely. Your natural shielding ability is very strong. I can almost believe you weren't trained."

"That's impossible. I'm not a Jedi."

"You are certainly not, at that."

"And you're not trying to kill me?"

"What?" said Vader. "And ruin our temporary ceasefire?"

In spite of herself, Leia smiled. "I didn't know you cared."

"I have no fondness for your rebellion, but your dedication to peace without _necessarily_ infringing on my private life is...commendable."

"Well, what are we going to do? We can't exactly get married, as things stand."

"I suppose," said Vader carefully, "you ought to come to terms with your Force abilities, young one."

Nothing in the galaxy had prepared her for that. And yet, somehow, she already knew him enough to trust that he did not delight in cruelty for its own sake. It might be a way forward, a way out. "What does that make you? Master Vader?"

"I am no one's master," he said. "But perhaps we can be comrades-in-arms."


End file.
